Acompsia ballotellus (Amsel, 1935) Bidzilya & Karsholt & Kravchenko & Šumpich, 2019

Bidzilya, Oleksiy, Karsholt, Ole, Kravchenko, Vasiliy & Šumpich, Jan, 2019, An annotated checklist of Gelechiidae (Lepidoptera) of Israel with description of two new species, Zootaxa 4677 (1), pp. 1-68 : 27

Acompsia ballotellus (Amsel, 1935) comb. nov.

Hypsolophus ballotellus Amsel, 1935 —Mitt. zool. Mus. Berl. 20 (2): 298, pl. 10, fig. 64.

Records. Amsel 1933: 126; Amsel 1935a: 298; Bodenheimer 1937: 101.

Material examined. Syntypes of Hypsolophus ballotellus : 1 ♀, Ain Karem b. Jerusalem, 24.iv.1930, ex. l. Ballota (Amsel) ; 1 ♂, same data, but 14.v.1930 ( SMNK) ; 1 ♀, same data but 23.iv.1930 (gen. slide GU651) ( SMNK) ; 1 ♂, Katzrin vicinity, Zavitan stream, 21.iv.2018, evening collection, on Ballota saxatilis (Bidzilya) (gen. slide 152/18, O. Bidzilya) ( ZMKU) .

Host plant. Larvae live on Ballota spp. ( Amsel 1935a: 298).

Distribution. Israel.

Remarks. Hypsolophus ballotellus was described from an unstated number of specimens (“24. 4, 14. 5, ex l. Ballota sp.”) from Ain Karim, Jerusalem. A holotype was not selected in the original description, and three specimens in SMNK should be considered as syntypes.

Our study of the male genitalia of this species ( Fig. 23 ) shows that it matches in all details to those of the genus Acompsia Hübner , [1825], subgenus Telephila Meyrick, 1923 . Hence, the following new combination is proposed: Acompsia (Telephila) ballotellus (Amsel, 1935) comb. nov. Subgenus Telephila comprises two species— A. (T.) schmidtiellus (Heyden, 1848) and A. (T.) syriaca Huemer & Karsholt, 2002 . Acompsia ballotellus differs from both these in the darker forewing with more extensive black pattern especially along the wing apex ( Fig. 22 ). In A. ballotellus the apex of the forewing is moreover more acute, and the hindwings are darker than in A. syriaca . The male genitalia mostly resemble those of A. schmidtiellus , but the valva is narrower and the sclerite in the phallus is absent ( Fig. 23 ). Acompsia syriaca , which is also without a sclerite in the more slender phallus, moreover differs by the longer arms of the vinculum and the different shape of the uncus (for comparison see Huemer & Karsholt (2002: figs 40, 57)).

Acompsia ballotellus is a little known species, and apart from Bodenheimer (1937: 101) it has to our knowledge not been mentioned in the literature since its description. There are a few references to it (as “ Brachmia bellotella ”) on the internet starting with Robinson et al. (2010 –2018), but the species has apparently not been formally transferred to the genus Brachmia Hübner, 1825 . Hypsolophus Illiger, 1801 is an emendation of Ypsolopha Latreille, 1796 , the type genus of the family Ypsolophidae , and the placement of ballotellus in Hypsolophus may be the reason why the species was overlooked by authors of Gelechiidae literature.

Figures

FIGS 22–23. Acompsia ballotellus Ams. 22. Adult, ♂ (gen. slide 152/18, O. Bidzilya). 23. Male genitalia (gen. slide 152/18, O. Bidzilya).